Sending e-mail without user

[Dart, Jocelyn]

Zsolt,
There are a number of ways of providing "non-SAP" workflow access depending on your release and web capability, e.g. email query, web applications,
SAP/Adobe Interactive forms, etc.
 
However before you go too much further into your scenario, I strongly suggest you talk to your SAP salesperson or account manager to check the
licencing arrangements at your site.
 
For a user to take part in a workflow, or in fact in any decision that directly impacts the system, they must be licenced appropriately.  This applies even if they do not have their own SAP user id! For instance they may need to be counted as an external community user.   SAP performs licensing audits checking the use of SAP systems from time to time and in any case it's silly (not to mention poor business ethics) to risk undesirable legal implications - just because an approach is technically possible does not necessarily mean that it is legally defensible.
 
If you have a recent licence, then there may not be any issue with licensing provided the users involved are covered under the licence.  However if your licence has not been updated in the last couple of years, then you need to check the licence implications of your scenario.   You may also find that there are plans to update the licence in the near future, in which case you need to make sure your workflow scenario is covered.
 
On the plus side, if the users you speak of are covered under the licensing arrangement, life gets a lot easier.   For instance, you can create an SAP user id for these people, use that to find them, hold their email address, given them access to workflow, audit trail their use of workflow, etc. **EVEN IF** they never logon directly via SAPGUI.
 
So your questions are not really quick answer questions - there are many ways of handling your situation.  The best advice I can give you is to contact your local SAP office and get your account manager involved.
 
Regards,
Jocelyn Dart
SAP Consulting (Australia).
 
-----Original Message-----
From: SAP Workflow [mailto:Owner-SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Van der Burg, Jeroen JA SITI-ITABEE
Sent: Saturday,9 October 2004 12:36 AM
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Re: Sending e-mail without user
 
Hi Zsolt,
 
No problem, your question is pretty clear.
 
1. You need to store the email address of the receiver in SAP in one way or another. Eg if you use HR you can assign an email address to an employee even if you do not have a user id assigned. Otherwise you can consider using a custom table. The obvious drawback is that you need to maintain this information, not only the email addresses but also some information on when to select which address.
 
2. Basically, the user's reply can not trigger a new workflow task. I had a similar requirement in the past and solved it by creating a workitem for the second person at the same time the email is sent out by the workflow system. Once the first person forwards his respons to the person who actually works on SAP, the second person processes the related workitem. This would normally be a decision step were number two can select the possible decisions from number one; which then define the next steps in a 'forward with dialogue' chain. In my situation I used a group id so the second person can easily select the batch of items which are currently in process by the person from whom he received the email with the decision.
 
Obviously, a web solution would be preferable at it allows number one to immediately enter the decision in the system, but the persons who must take decisions may not have internet access (in my case they tended to take the decisions while travelling based on paper based documents). At least this way the organisation can manage the outstanding activities and use deadline- and escalation processes as there is constant information available on the status of the different purchase requisitions .
 
 
Hope this helps,
 
 
Jeroen
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: SAP Workflow [mailto:Owner-SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Marton Zsolt
Sent: 08 October 2004 16:17
To: SAP-WUG at MITVMA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Sending e-mail without user
 
 
Dear workflow Users!
 
First of all, I would like to excuse because my English is not so good, but I will try to be as clear as I could.
 
I have a problem to resolve. My task is, to create a workflow for release of purchase requisitions. The release procedure has a single step in the SAP, but the customer will is, to define the workflow in such a way, that the release of the requisition gets split-levels!!
 
The first person, who will "release" the requisition, is not an SAP user. He is a person, who must get an e-mail sent by the SAP Workflow and his duty is only to decide, that the requisition could be released or not.
 
The second person is an SAP user and he will get the task after the first person's answer. He will release the requisition with the release code assigned to the purchase requisition.
 
My problem is that, how can I create workflow task which will send information in e-mail to a person, who is not an SAP user and how can this users reply trigger a new workflow task? Or anyway, is it possible for somebody, who isn't  a user to generate a workflow step?
 
 
 
I hope that I could made myself understood but if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me.
 
Best regards
 
Zsolt Marton